Editor,
A few days ago I was riding in the car with my family and we passed several red flags indicating high fire danger in Laguna that day. As we continued down the road the passenger in the car ahead of us threw a burning cigarette on the road. At that point I thought about the thousands of people who lost their homes to fires in 1993 from the actions of a similar irresponsible people. I also thought about the hundreds of hours that groups like Zero Trash Laguna spends picking up discarded cigarette butts to keep them out of our oceans. Then I realized how smoking not only shows the disregard for ones own health but a blatant disregard for the health and safety of our community. I would like to remind smokers to use ashtrays and that throwing a burning cigarette on the ground is not only a fire hazard but also a health hazard to our environment.
Jake Mangus, Thurston Middle School seventh grader
